Barack Obama’s Election Is Good for America

Barack Obama is now our President. He is described as an African-American, but is really so much more. This is because of his mixed-race heritage and also due to what he symbolizes to millions of his fellow citizens who have been marginalized until now. Just to announce that result is a glorious thing.

In America, discrimination against non-whites has been everywhere for many decades. Although it will persist, as unreasoning hate is never easy to eradicate, perhaps we have entered a new era.

In Houston’s predominately white neighborhood of Tanglewood, kids endured intense discrimination. Circa 1995, non-white children of East Indian descent were told by other children that they weren’t allowed to be friends with them. Teachers at the neighborhood’s River Oaks Baptist School told them that they would be going to Hell because they weren’t Christians. At the same school, children of high intelligence were placed in remedial classes for the mere fact of their darker skin color.

The neighborhood slowly changed; different ethnicities entered the community. Instead of a solid wall of Caucasians, East Indian faces joined Iranians, Chinese, and South American citizens to the once all-white hegemony.
By: A. Banerjee
This exciting process seems to have been further renewed on November 4, 2008, with the election of Barack Obama, a son of a Kenyan father and a white mother. All segments of American society participated to elect a human being who forty years ago would have been forced by segregation to use an inferior bathroom and drink from a drinking fountain set aside “for colored only.” His election took away at least a little of the shame that went into being non-white in America, and replaced it with a tearful and hope-inspiring pride.

Barack Obama is intelligent too. He showed during his masterful campaign that he does possess the qualities necessary to lead. Once a gifted community organizer, he proved himself a more than able campaign organizer. His election is good for America’s soul.

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Obama, McCain trade talk-show fire

By PAUL RICHTER
WASHINGTON – Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged yesterday that he had failed to understand how much violence would decrease this year in Iraq, but he contended that President Bush and Sen. John McCain, the Republicans' presumptive presidential candidate, had made the same mistake.
Meanwhile, McCain insisted in an interview on ABC's "This Week" that he had not shifted his support of an American exit in 2010, despite comments he made Friday that the 16-month withdrawal plan espoused by Iraq's prime minister "is a pretty good timetable."
Addressing what has become one of his most difficult campaign issues, Obama said that the violence "has gone down more than any of us have anticipated, including President Bush and John McCain."
But the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," contended that the decline was brought about, not just by the U.S. troop increase, but also by a combination of factors, including Iraqi Sunnis' decision to turn against al-Qaida.
"To try to single out a single factor in a messy situation is not accurate," he said, while also emphasizing that U.S. combat forces had made "an enormous difference."
The Illinois senator, who returned to the United States late Saturday after a week in South Asia, the Middle East and Europe, has struggled to explain his opposition to a troop increase, strongly supported by McCain, that has come to be viewed widely as an important contributor to improved Iraqi security.
Obama also sought to rebut charges that his speech in Berlin, to an enthusiastic crowd estimated at 200,000 people, was largely free of substance or any specifics that would displease his audience.
He pointed out that he had called on Germany to do more in Afghanistan and Iraq, and had decried the reflexive anti-Americanism in Europe.
"That wasn't an applause line in Germany," he said.
Despite his call for Germany to do more on joint security efforts, he said Chancellor Angela Merkel "is doing as much as she can" to step up German military contributions to Afghanistan "given the politics in her country."
Obama, who often has faulted the Bush administration for failing to mobilize a full effort for Middle East peace until 2007, praised the Bush team for its recent efforts toward creation of a Palestinian state.
He said that the administration has "moved the ball forward" since the autumn, although it might leave an unfinished job that the next president will have to "move quickly" to complete. He said the next president also would need to move quickly to deal with the threat from Iran's nuclear program.
McCain's comments on the timetable for withdrawal from Iraq were prompted by comments in a CNN interview Friday in which he had been asked to explain why Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki now generally supported the 16-month timetable endorsed by Obama.
Al-Maliki "said it's a pretty good timetable based on conditions on the ground," McCain said in the Friday interview. "I think it's a pretty good timetable, as we should (have our) horizons for withdrawal. But they have to be based on conditions on the ground."
Obama's campaign hailed the comment as a sign that McCain, like al-Maliki, was moving toward the Democrat's position.
McCain insisted on the ABC program that he would favor any timetable as long as it was justified by improved conditions in Iraq.
"I like six months, three months, two months," he said. "I like yesterday. I like yesterday, OK? That seems really good to me. But the fact is, the conditions on the ground have not dictated it."
The Arizona senator said he was not questioning Obama's patriotism last week when he charged that the Democrat had been willing to lose the war if it helped him with the political campaign.
"I'm not questioning his patriotism. I'm questioning his actions," McCain said. "All I'm saying is, he does not understand. ... He made the decision that was political, in order to help him win the nomination of his party."
McCain strongly defended his original support for the war, which has become another key point of contention between the two.
As had been predicted in 2003, "We were greeted as liberators," he insisted. He added, though, that the Bush administration mishandled the war "in a way that was so harmful that I stood up against it.
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Obama Gains Support in Pennsylvania

By: Cesar Aguado
In a move that could help Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama gain inroads with white, working class voters and business people, he gained an important endorsement from Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, who has strong ties with the labor class in that state.

So far, Obama has been trailing Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, which is heavy in white, middle class citizens and Catholics, both of whom have shown her preference in recent polls. She has gained the support of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, which has helped bolster her success in the state.

Casey’s endorsement coincides with a six day push in Pennsylvania by Obama as he tries to gather support for the upcoming April 22 primaries, where 158 delegates are at stake. This is the biggest prize left in any upcoming primary, and a key decision in the nomination process.

Casey Believes Obama can Heal America

Senator Casey, who shares Obama’s support of gun rights and opposition to abortion, has been described as a quiet and gracious man whose support is greatly appreciated, but was not fought hard to attain. Obama said he did not press hard for the Casey endorsement, but is very grateful to have it.

Casey said in a speech that he believed Obama has the necessary skills to lead America in a dangerous world, to take the nation in a new direction that will lead us back to prosperity, and to heal America’s wounds.

When asked about the Casey endorsement, the Clinton campaign expressed their gratitude for the abundance of support they have received so far from the state of Pennsylvania. Representative John Murtha and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter are among Clinton’s supporters in the state.

Leahy Calls for Clinton’s Withdraw from Campaign

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, urged Clinton to abandon her bid for the White House. In a radio interview that was broadcast earlier in the week, Leahy said he felt there was no chance of Clinton winning enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. He further stated that Casey’s endorsement only underscored the support Obama has garnered so far. Leahy upheld Clinton’s right to remain in the race, but said he felt she did not have a good reason to continue, and that the Democratic Party needed to come together in order to have a chance at defeating McCain come the November elections.

Pennsylvania is seen as a crucial state for the candidates, with elderly voters and white working class and business people opting for Clinton, while the younger voters seem to prefer Obama.

In an effort to boost support, Obama has stepped up his television campaign, and will be touring the state of Pennsylvania with Casey, who currently shows a 62 percent approval rating among Pennsylvania Democrats.

Securing the Pennsylvania nomination could prove to be a crucial turning point in the nomination process, with the decision still up for grabs as the Democratic National Convention in Denver approaches. Democrats are hoping to have a clear-cut candidate in the near future so they can begin strategizing on the November elections.

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Biography of Barack Obama --- New President Of USA ? (!) by search4i

Full Name: Barack Hussein Obama Jr. Party: Democratic Political Office: U.S. Senator from Illinois, elected 2004; member, Illinois State Senate 1997-2004 Business/Professional Experience: Attorney, law firm of Miner Barnhill & Galland (Chicago, IL), 1993-2004 Date of Birth: August 4, 1961 Place of Birth: Honolulu, Hawaii Home: Chicago, Ill. Education: B.A. Columbia University 1983; J.D. Harvard Law, 1991 Spouse: married Michelle Robinson, 1992 Children: daughter Malia, born 1999; daughter Natasha, born 2001 Religion: United Church of Christ Home: Chicago, Ill.

Books

By Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream [2006]; Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance [1995]

About: Hopes and Dreams: The Story of Barack Obama, by Steve Dougherty [2007]

The Democratic presidential primary campaign began around Christmas 2006, and it may end Tuesday night. But of all the days between then and now, the most important was Nov. 10, 2007.

On that day, the Democratic Party of Iowa held its Jefferson-Jackson dinner and invited the candidates to speak. There were thousands of Democrats sitting around tables on the floor of the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, and rowdy thousands more up in the stands.

Hillary Clinton gave a rousing partisan speech. Standing on a stage in the middle of the arena with her arms spread and her voice rising, she welcomed the next president and declared: "We are here tonight to make sure that next president is a Democrat!"

She described how change was going to come about in this country: through fighting. She used the word "fight" or "fought" 15 times in one passage of the speech, fighting for health care, fighting for education and women's rights. Then she vowed to "turn up the heat" on Republicans. "They deserve all the heat we can give them!" she roared.

Finally, she described the presidency. It's a demanding job, she suggested, that requires fortitude, experience and mettle. The next president will bear enormous burdens, she continued. The president's job is to fight for people who feel invisible and can't help themselves.

Clinton rode the passion of the crowd and delivered an energetic battle cry. And in many elections that sort of speech, delivered around the country, would clinch the nomination.

But this is a country in the midst of a crisis of authority, a country that has become disillusioned not only with one president, but with a whole system of politics. It's a country that has lost faith not only with one institution, but with the entire set of leadership institutions. The cultural context, in other words, allowed for a much broader critique, a much more audacious vocabulary.

And Barack Obama leapt right in.

publication -- they said quite a bit more. Obama's Law Review Colleagues: Where Are They Now?

Barack Obama at his fellow student Bradford Berenson's apartment, where he watched the 1990 election returns.

"I was born in Oslo, , the son of a Volvo factory worker and part-time ice fisherman," a mock self-tribute begins. "My mother was a backup singer for Abba. They were good folks." In Chicago, "I discovered I was black, and I have remained so ever since."

After his election, the Faux-bama says, he united warring students into "a happy, cohesive folk," while "empowering all the folks out there in who didn't know about me by giving a series of articulate and startlingly mature interviews to all the folks in the media."

In his two memoirs and the biographical video on his Web site, Senator Obama's legal education is barely a blip, one of the least known chapters of his life. But for the Illinois Democrat who is all but certainly running for the presidency, Harvard was the place where he first became a political sensation.

He arrived there as an unknown, Afro-wearing community organizer who had spent years searching for his identity; by the time he left, he had his first national news media exposure, a book contract and a shot of confidence from running the most powerful legal journal in the country.

As the ribbing in the Revue suggests, Mr. Obama was realizing the power of his own biography. He proved deft at navigating an institution scorched with ideological battles, many of which revolved around race. He developed a leadership style based more on furthering consensus than on imposing his own ideas. Surrounded by students who enjoyed the sound of their own voices, Mr. Obama cast himself as an eager listener, sometimes giving warring classmates the impression that he agreed with all of them at once.

Friends say he did not want anyone to assume they knew his mind -- and because of that, even those close to him did not always know exactly where he stood. It is a tendency that could prove perilous on the campaign trail, as voters, rivals and the news media try to fix the positions of a senator with only two years in office.

"He then and now is very hard to pin down," said Kenneth Mack, a classmate and now a professor at the law school, referring to the senator's on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand style.

Charles J. Ogletree Jr., another Harvard law professor and a mentor of Mr. Obama, said, "He can enter your space and organize your thoughts without necessarily revealing his own concerns and conflicts."

Many of his former professors and classmates say they are cheering on Mr. Obama, 45, in his candidacy. But the skills he displayed in law school may not serve him as well in American presidential politics, which sometimes rewards other qualities -- like delivering sound bites instead of deliberateness or fidelity to a base of supporters instead of compromise.

The law review is "fairly disconnected from the breadth and the rough and tumble of real politics," said Bruce Spiva, a former review editor who now practices civil rights law in Washington. "It's an election among a closed group. It's more like electing a pope."

Mr. Obama declined to comment about his time at Harvard. He arrived at the law school in 1988 with a well-inked passport -- he had grown up in Hawaii and Indonesia, son of a black Kenyan father and a white American mother -- and years of community organizing experience in Chicago, making him, at 27, an elder statesman among the students who had tested and term-papered their way straight there.

Mr. Obama spent much of his time alone, curtailing his dating life after his first summer, when he met his future wife, a Harvard Law graduate named Michelle Robinson who was working in Chicago. He often played pickup basketball, replacing his deliberative off-court style with sharp elbows and aggressive grabs for the ball.

Along with 40-odd classmates, he won a precious spot on the law review at the end of his first year through grades and a writing competition. But the next year, when other students implored him to run for the presidency, he demurred; he wanted to return to community work in Chicago, he said, and the credential would be no help. Late in the process, he finally agreed, saying he might be uniquely able to heal the review's partisan divisions.

About the Author

www.search4i.com

barack obama WON the texas primary caucus by Karen Fish

barack obama WON the texas primary caucus. in other words hillary clinton LOST the texas primary caucus. in other words barack obama WON the big state of texas primary caucus. Barack Obama won Texas.

George W. Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and said, “Mission Accomplished”, to the cheers of the 4 thousand really hot navy guys on board ��" talk about your ultimate fantasies. In a fit of premature declaration Bill Clinton has been celebrating his big victory in Texas since last Tuesday. The only problem is that he lost.

Lets say that you called up your bookie and bet $4000 on the Dallas Stars hockey team to beat the Chicago Blackawks. You go to the game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Chicago beats Dallas 4 goals to 3. Then you call up your bookie and tell him that Dallas won the game and you want to pick up your money honey. Your bookie says, “What are you talking about, Chicago won the game 4 goals to 3. You owe me $4000. Pay up by tonight or you’re a dead man!”

Last week Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton contested the big state of Texas primary caucus. In a primary caucus the equivalent of goals in hockey is delegates. In the Texas primary caucus last week, Barack Obama won 98 delegates and Hillary Clinton won 95 delegates. If you went to Las Vegas and bet on Barack Obama to win the Texas primary caucus, I am pleased to inform you that you won. Barack Obama won the big state of Texas by 3 goals.

If your brain now hurts you are suffering from cognitive dissonance. Here, this might help. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas. Barack Obama Won Texas.

Who won Texas? The entire world has been mesmerized by the American election process since it began 14 months ago because the future of the Middle East and the World is hanging in the balance. If a person is elected for a 4 year term and spends 2 years campaigning, shouldn’t the primary question in the voters’ minds be, “Who is the best campaigner?” The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. Why doesn’t it fall on the mountains? Or, does it?

If this will stop you from having a stroke, Hillary Clinton won Texas, because as in golf the person with the lower score wins ��" just telepath Lord Byron. John McCain said, “Surge Accomplished.” If the surge worked then why aren’t the boys and girls home yet? Why aren’t the boys and girls home from Iraq yet if the surge has worked. If the surge has worked why does John McCain tell us that the American troops will be in Iraq for another 100 years? Why are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton telling us that if they are elected, they are going to bring the combat troops home from Iraq but not the non combat troops, unless something happens and they have to leave the combat troops there too. What is the definition of a combat troop? How is your head feeling? The size of the clubhead is inversely proportional to the launch angle.

In “The Little Prince” the fox said, “Words are a source of misunderstanding”, just so that I don’t get accused of plagiarism. Do you remember plagiarism gate? I don’t. What was that about? We seem to collectively have the attention span of a gnat. We strain at gnats yet we swallow camels whole. God came to earth to tell us that? Perhaps if I number every sentence my words will have more credibility. (Ex. 20:1-20). If you are a Catholic and you thought that you were a Christian, then according to John McCain’s spiritual advisor John Hagee, you are wrong. According to John McCain’s straight talk express spiritual advisor Pope Benedict XVI is actually a Hindu. Don’t tell the Pontiff until next yontiff unless you want to see his red yarmulkah go flying off of his head into a McCain like rage.

Doesn’t it bother you when all the people who know John McCain like Senators and Generals who have worked with him say that they are afraid to give him the red buttons because he flips into these fits of irrational blind rage and every time that you hear him talking he sounds like a cross between Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers?

The reason that words are a source of misunderstanding is because many words in the English language have 10 meanings and often our politicians and our media are not exactly candid with us. Hillary Clinton won Texas. Mission Accomplished. Surge Accomplished. We are bringing all of the combat troops home but we are leaving the non combat troops in Iraq. What are non combat troops? Does that mean that if the Sunnis we armed or the Shiites who are playing possum until we leave fire upon them, they will just stand there and die?

Our former enemy was Karl Marx. Do you think that when Karl Benz invented the car 125 years ago he knew that in 125 years his invention would trap the United States of America in Iraq for 100 years, or was that Edgar Cayce, or Michel de Nostradame? The American public has been sitting mesmerized by poll numbers for 14 months and they do not know that Barack Obama won Texas a week ago. O.K. Lets get serious for a moment.

Forget that. The situation on earth right now is so bad that you either have to laugh or cry. There will be plenty of time to cry during the Apocalypse. Right now John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are fighting over who gets George Bush’s Trojan Horse. The American people believe that who they elect will make a difference regarding climate change, nuclear world war 3, a 10 trillion dollar deficit, 2 million Americans jailed by other Americans, etc. How can you trust a country to vote for the right person when that country just elected George Bush twice? Perhaps whoever wins we should award the Presidency to the other person just based on the fact that we always get it wrong.


About the Author

Karen Fish is a writer currently living in Los Angeles California. The Temple of Love http://www.thetempleoflove.com

Barack Obama: Working to Make a Difference (Gateway Biographies)

Gr. 5-8. With Obama increasingly in the spotlight, this timely entry in the Gateway Biography series will be in demand. Brill offers a warm, personal portrait of the politician, beginning with his parents' disparate backgrounds and his multinational upbringing and moving through his political awakenings, higher education, and public life. There are no source notes, an omission that is most glaring in references to Obama's personal thoughts and impressions. Still, Brill offers an intimate portrait that is bolstered by her own interviews with Obama's colleagues, schoolmates, and friends. The many photos include Obama's elementary- and high-school-yearbook pictures. Appended material includes a chronology, a glossary, and a brief list of suggested Web sites. The first of what will surely be many biographies for youth about the rising U.S. senator from Illinois. Gillian Engberg

Early life and career obama

Obama, known as "Barry" throughout his early years, was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham. His parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. After her divorce, Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, and the family moved to Soetoro's home country of Indonesia in 1967, where Obama attended local schools in Jakarta from ages 6 to 10.^[9] He then returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents while attending Punahou School from the fifth grade until his graduation in 1979. Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at Occidental College for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations.

Obama received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia in 1983, then worked at Business International Corporation and New York Public Interest Research Group before moving to Chicago in 1985 to take a job as a community organizer. He entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In 1990, The New York Times reported his election as the Harvard Law Review's "first black president in its 104-year history". Obama completed his law degree magna cum laude in 1991, then returned to Chicago where he headed a voter registration drive and began writing his first book, Dreams from My Father, published in 1995. As an associate attorney with Miner, Barnhill & Galland from 1993 to 1996, he represented community organizers, discrimination claims, and voting rights cases. He was also a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004. by www.wikipedia.com